Blogs and Commentary

Monday Notebook: NCAA Division III

Steve Colfer was inundated by texts, emails and phone calls on
Thursday morning, and he enjoyed every one of them. All of them
started with the word 'Congratulations,' as Cabrini notched its
first win against Gettysburg the previous afternoon.

"I've been hearing a lot from the alums who have been on the
other end of the stick from Gettysburg for a number of years," said
Colfer. "They were happy as well to get that monkey off our
back."

The Cavaliers dominated the mighty Bullets, 8-1, improving to
4-2 on the season as they near the start of their conference
slate.

"It was a great win for the program, and to be able to compete
against a program like Gettysburg with the pedigree and the
tradition that they have is an honor," said Colfer, who is now 1-6
against the Bullets. "In a matter of week, we got to play against
Coach Rostan and Coach Janczyk, who are two legends in our game
from a coaching standpoint. I respect everything they've done. So
to beat a school like Gettysburg and have that opportunity was
awesome for our kids."

Colfer's squad are a relatively unknown bunch compared with some
of the standouts they've had in the recent past. The coach doesn't
mind that at all, and believes it makes this team more dangerous
than previous editions.

"We've always had gritty kids," Colfer said. "We may not be the
most talented team on the field, but we're always going to work
hard. That's the kind of kid we get at Cabrini in general, and I
think it trickles down to our athletic programs. We don't have a
team of stars. We're probably a harder team to match up with
because there isn't the pecking order offensively or defensively
where you say, 'There's the kid we need to shut down.' We are a
bunch of guys who are all doing well in their roles. We don't have
a star system and I think that is serving us well this year. I hope
to see it continue."

- No. 2 Tufts' 14-12 win over No. 4 Stevens was a statistical
dead-heat other than the Ducks proficiency with the extra man
(5-for-5), and the game felt nip-and-tuck even when the Jumbos
jumped out to an early, 4-1 lead.

"It was about even at the half and seemed to be about even the
rest of the way," said Daly, standing in the lobby of his hotel in
Baltimore, where his team will face Stevenson on Wednesday. "We
made a few more plays than they did and our goalie made a few more
saves than theirs, but it was pretty even."

One of the standouts for the Jumbos against Stevens was Beau
Wood, a sophomore out of Sherwood Forest, Md., who was caught
behind Tufts' stacked attack unit last year. He had four goals and
an assist versus the Ducks, and currently leads the team in goals
(10) and points (15) after three games.

"What's great about our program is Beau did not play at all last
year, and had to watch what Matt Witko and what some of those
seniors did and went about their business," Daly said. "Beau did an
unbelievable job in the weight room and put on a lot of good pounds
and worked his tail off. He's a great reflection of all of our guys
and the seniors. He put the work in and he's starting to see the
results right now."

As productive as Wood was, the numbers for Kevin McCormick (one
goal on seven shots) were a little low, especially after his
five-goal, 21-shot performance against Connecticut College earlier
in the week. Daly said there were extenuating circumstances, and
that the decreased stats are consistent with Tufts' philosophy.

"They played a little bit of zone in the first half and a good
amount through the course of the game, so a lot of stuff was coming
in transition before we even got our offensive midfield on the
field," Daly said. "Honestly, those guys didn't play that much
yesterday. And with Kevin, he lets the game come to him and he had
those opportunities in other games and I'm not sure he had as many
opportunities. That's what's great about our team; we spread the
scoring around. You can take care of that guy, and we've got other
guys."

- Lynchburg's overtime win over Roanoke on Saturday night not
only gave the Hornets' seniors their first win against the Maroons
and snapped a five-game losing streak to 'Noke, but it essentially
ensured that LC will be in the field when the brackets come out in
May. Obviously, if the Hornets completely tank the rest of the
season, all bets are off, but if they handle their business like
they've been doing, but don't win the ODAC auto-qualifier, they'll
still be in good shape.

- Two unbeatens fell this week. Goucher handed Mary Washington
its first loss in overtime on Wednesday while Gwynedd-Mercy nipped
first-year program Albright in extra time, handing the Lions their
first-ever setback...congrats to Chris Kivlen, who picked up his
first win as head coach of Montclair State when the Redhawks beat
Manhattanville, 15-7...Geneseo can't buy a break. They lost their
third one-goal game of the season to drop to 0-4...don't look now,
but Ithaca is 4-0. We'll find out if the Bombers are for real on
Friday night when they entertain Cortland...for the second straight
year, Bates beat Wesleyan...as I look at Williams' remaining
schedule, there aren't many more wins left on the slate...Whittier
is about to commence its six-game, 12-day gauntlet that will
determine whether they can grab a Pool B bid. It's starts on
Tuesday when they play Babson.